Part of a Parent
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: They all played a slightly different role in raising Hotaru.


**A/N:** Written for mew-tsubaski as part of the GGE. She requested Outers fluff…and, since I'm not really a fluff writer, this was what came out of it. :D It was also supposed to have dialogue in it, but after 600 words of no dialogue, it looked a little strange so I rewrote the end without it.

Also written for the Sailor Moon Bingo: the non-flash bingo on mew's Sailor Moon Fanfiction Challenges Forum (link's in profile), for the number 197 – character: Sailor Chaos.

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**Part of a Parent**

Setsuna had made as few changes as possible to Hotaru's room so that, to the little girl, it could be no different than her previous home. She'd had little problem with the décor; while Setsuna preferred garnet to violet, dark colours in general were more comforting than wild electric green or neon pink. Haruka's half of the room could sometimes be unbearable; luckily Michiru was quite the opposite in terms of artistic challenge and managed to mix in lighter shades and make a beautiful backdrop.

Setsuna still preferred dark colours, and so did Hotaru. Even if the now four year old wasn't as articulate as her eleven year old counterpart, and even if they didn't let her pick all her clothes for herself (because to let a child pick their clothing would mean they'd be missing a few…essentials), it was obvious from the way she'd wear her navy blue, garnet or violet pyjamas more often than her cerulean ones. It caused Michiru grief to no end, because while Setsuna was old and the guardian of time and could be forgiven for dressing in such macabre attire, Hotaru was for now an ordinary four year old girl and should wear brighter things.

As for Hotaru's room…Michiru had to give that up as a lost cause after her slight additions had kept Hotaru up all night. She played the role of the mother in other ways; while Setsuna was usually strict (especially with Michiru and Haruka), she had a soft spot for two of the Senshi: Chibiusa, and Hotaru. So it fell to Michiru to counteract that by making sure Hotaru didn't get overly spoilt with chocolates, to make sure Hotaru always had her veggies and three glasses of milk a day, to make sure Hotaru didn't watch Setsuna's scary movies till too late – though why a four year old would want to watch those movies was beyond her.

Luckily, Hotaru had quieter interests as well, and it was Haruka who lost that one. Hotaru loved watching Michiru paint and play the violin, and her classes from Setsuna, and stories from all of them. But Haruka was a doer, not a talker; she wasn't really one for telling stories. She'd rather ride, and ride fast. But Hotaru was too young in body to be able to really enjoy the winds of speed, and still too frail to play the rough and tumble sports that Haruka enjoyed.

But they all had their roles in the little family, and Haruka's was of the father, not the mother. It was to her Hotaru ran to greet when she heard the door, to her she eagerly came with a tray laden with food when she'd gotten caught up in fixing something again, to her she'd eagerly show her new clothes brought with Setsuna or Michiru, and some new game they'd play together until Haruka couldn't let Hotaru win any more. And Haruka would be the one to take Hotaru to the park as well and run around as the little girl tried to catch a butterfly or a bird. And she even got to glare at slightly bigger boys occasionally when she smelt trouble from them.

But it was Setsuna who was closest to Hotaru, and Setsuna who tucked her in most nights, and told her a bed-time story. Mostly they were about the Senshi and the Silver Millennium. They were about a beautiful princess from the moon, and a noble man from the earth. They were about ten planets, and a princess hailing from each. They were about happy times. But sometimes they were about darker things as well. Like the wars on the outer rim of the galaxy. Like the volcano that spilled over on earth. Like the cauldron that bubbled constantly, feeding on the fears of mankind.

That was Hotaru's favourite story: the one of the cauldron, and Chaos and Cosmos. So Setsuna told it often, though she couldn't help but wonder if there was something precognitive about that interest. She couldn't forget, after all, that Hotaru had once been the Senshi of Destruction. And yet Hotaru surprised her as well, favouring Cosmos like a defender of the world should. And Setsuna would be reminded of another story: of how the slumbering reaper had awakened and destroyed a pillaged world to pave the way for rebirth.

But Chaos was a different story: it was said she would destroy the world so badly, it could never be restored. Not even Cosmos, the Rebirth. And certainly not the Senshi of the Moon who had restored the world after Saturn had removed it.

But Setsuna did not tell Hotaru of that, nor did she tell of those other futures she saw: futures where Saturn was Chaos and Moon, Cosmos, where they'd fought until Cosmos had been restrained and Chaos had ceased her victory. Because those futures had disappeared into the past, and Hotaru was just a little child for now who wanted a bedtime story.

So instead, Setsuna found herself trying to imagine Cosmos' beautiful dress, and Chaos' wicked witch style one and crow-like wings. In truth, Chaos had no form Setsuna knew, but a four year old wanted a face to the name, however wrong, and she didn't mind obliging her. She didn't mind giving Chaos a dark wrinkled face and warts, and Cosmos one of eternal youth and light. She didn't mind giggling about how Cosmos always managed to win: how good conquered evil and saved the world…even if it wasn't as simple as that. Because four year olds were mention to giggle, and so were adults – it was those giggles that gave Cosmos power.

But, most importantly, they were a family and Hotaru was the child they were supposed to make happy together.


End file.
